1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for determining if a media jam has been detected by a print engine, an input device, or an output device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior to the present invention, as set forth in general terms above and more specifically below, it is known, in the media handling art that after a media jam occurs, the printer firmware performs an urgent stop to stop all media movement. However, this will leave media in the print engine and the input/output devices of the printer. Some of this media can be flushed and some cannot. Consequently, the media that cannot be flushed, which can be located under the fuser of the printer, will create additional follow-on media jams that will have to be cleared by the user.
It is also known, in the media handling art, to employ a variety of internal purges for media jam clearance. Typically, these devices utilize buckle chambers or other internal devices located within the printer in order to compile the media located upstream of the media jam. While these devices prevent further media from being jammed, these devices may wrinkle or otherwise destroy the media as it is held within the internal device. This could be especially critical if the media is expensive. Also, these internal devices are not interchangeable between various printing devices.
Finally, it is known, in the media handling art, that once a media jam has occurred, the printing engine and/or output device are stopped in order that the user can remove the jammed media. This stoppage of the printing engine and/or output device becomes an inconvenience to the user because the user must now wait for the printing engine and/or output device to warm back up before the print job can be completed.
It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a time efficient, interchangeable apparatus and method that is capable of detecting a media jam and flushing the media without damaging it. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.